Blogs from Shanxi, China, Asia
May 24th 2012
After a week in China there is already so much to tell! It's not quite as straightforward to travel round as Japan and NZ, but we expected that. However, the people running the Beijing guesthouse and the one we stayed at in Pingyao are very friendly and helpful, so we've had trains booked for us as far as Xi'An and then hoping to fly to Jiuzhaigou National Park - didn't fancy the 18-24 hour trains!! It's unfortunate that the same can't be said for some of the other Chinese people we have met. Whether it is the endless stream of people (of all ages) asking for our photo, or those taking one anyway, or the man sitting six inches away in the train station staring straight at us and not budging regardless of what we say ... read more
May 6th 2012
Today, without question, is going to be a do-very-little day for me as getting around the city will be difficult. Up early, more or less, and sent some emails and tended to this blog; am packed for 4:00pm departure for Beijing S. Railway Station. Because of the national holiday, there is no metro running. I have to take a taxi which will cost about Y40 or so! We’ll see -- turns out to be right on the mark, or the Yuan. Need to pay up at hostel 4 days @Y200/day -- waste of money for this dirt trap of a Sun Garden hostel, No. 19 DongsiQiTiao Dongcheng District Beijing -- wi-fi password tianyuan2005laoxu. (DO NOT stay here, and what is more, hostel will line you up with a cheat of a tour guide/operator, Alexander, who will ... read more
May 6th 2012
Headed to Xi'anChina, the other walled city in China, mainly for the Terra Cotta Warriors and Jundi's Tomb. I get tackled at coming out of the Xi'an train station by a hawk wanting to sell me, among other things, a tour to the Terra Cotta Warriors and cab to hostel, but my alternative is a bus and, as easy as that might be, I am up for his offer of Y40 or take his tour and get a free ride to hostel. I bargain with him and get him down from Y380 to Y320, with Y120 up front which I gladly pay but hope I have not been scammed! (Later at the hostel, I am happy to know that I did quite well.) I check into hotel only to shower, eat some breakfast and have a ... read more
April 20th 2012
Qikou,an ancient village develeped through Transpotation over Yellow River,has moren than 100 years history.we visited this place in last summer... read more
April 10th 2012
They actually did it. Stel T, Sin and Ying Chu our guide got up at 3:00am to do the whole climb. The rest of us left the hotel at 8:00am, got the bus, and another bus, and then the cable car to the drop off point about 1,000m from the top of Huashan. I cannot imagine how exhausted the early birds are. The climb from the cable car drop off to the top was absolutely exhausting, so much so that our support car driver gave up half way. Stel and Sin did the first part of the climb in pitch black armed with an LED torch and rock climbing gloves. I've not seen their pictures yet, but they must be amazing. And by pure chance, the five of us actually met up at one of the ... read more
April 9th 2012
Not much to report. After a debate on whether or not skip Huashan and head straight to Xian, we put it to vote and decided to stick to the original schedule as Huashan has some of the best views in the whole of China. First things first, we headed straight for the nearest mechanic to fix the puncture on my back right wheel. Turns out a one inch nail had found it's way into my Yokohama. Deciding to save the spare wheel for the road ahead, the mechanic patched up the small puncture with parrafin and a tyre bandage. Then off again through the mountain twisties to Huashan. It was drizzling with rain when we arrived at 3:00pm, so we decided to put off the daunting climb up the mountain until the next day. Sin, Stel ... read more
April 8th 2012
Got up this morning at 5:45am to get some shots of the sunrise over Pingyao only to find out that we’d been locked in the guesthouse. Finally the innkeeper came and let us out and we set about walking the beautiful empty streets. After a hearty breakfast of Chinese buns, tofu, millet soup and pickles, the team set off on the 310km ride to the famed Hokou Waterfalls. After about 150km we got off the highway and hit the mountain roads. I had no idea that these roads were ideal twisties for my trusty MX 5. The car was in it’s element, and I’d not had so much fun driving since the trips up to KL from Singapore. About an hour into driving the twisties, one of the tyres got a puncture. We decided to press ... read more
April 7th 2012
The 380km drive from Datong to Pingyao should have been a relative breeze, but the whole team is exhausted and driving started to transform from pleasure to pain. Still, we reached the Ancient City of Pingyao at around 2:00pm, and the pain was soon forgotten once we saw what an incredible place this was. We checked into the Pingyao Yiguan Guesthouse within the Ancient city before heading down the colourful streets. The guesthouse has all the warmth and charm of “Old China” at only $52 a night. As for Pingyao, I would probably say that any visitor to China should make the effort to put this wonderful city on their schedule. We spent 4 hours walking the streets and sampling the street foods and then headed off for a wonderful dinner at the Tian Yuan Kui ... read more
February 14th 2012
OK, so dyfblog mk.1 disappeared for some reason. Choosing to believe that this is as a result of a glitch on its parent site, I've set up shop here now, and we'll just have to see what happens. As soon as I can I'll get the posts from mk.1 up here, and then, hopefully, we'll be able to get back down to it. Next few posts to come will be about Phoenix Mountain, the schools, the classes, and the 'Leaders'. In the meantime, I've put on a photo of the phoenix statue in Nanfeng Square. Not a great photo, but it's a start, at least. Fingers crossed, we won't have to move again.... read more
Exactly how we imagined China would look like...
Published: December 24th 2011Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao
December 2nd 2011
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY !!! We took our first Chinese overnight train to Pingyao – one of the best preserved ancient cities in China. So far we only could see some modern city developments and we really wanted to see some authentic places. Hard sleeper was really good and comfy (150Y/15£ each). Could even say that it was of better standard than the Russian Platzkart that we liked so much. We arranged to stay in Harmony Guesthouse - Courtyard hotel with a lot of charm and great interior. They also provided pick up for free so we did not have to think about that when we got there early in the morning. Upgrade to a double en-suite room was a nice gift as well (100Y/10£ per room). We really got to like ... read more
